Voluntary missing persons

[Llama_Rights]

I am new so trying to avoid making a mistake here. What are the rules for looking for voluntary missing persons on this forum?

I am hoping to use skill I learn hear to hunt for my aunt who has been missing from family for 17 years. She was checked into a hospital and never seen again. The hospital would only tell us if she is a patient there they wold forward the message (when we first lost contact).

We assume she did not die in the hospital as next of kin was not notified.

My fear is she left and is now a Jane Doe somewhere. I understand why should would hide from some family and may avoid me because her fear that I would tell others where she is. I would not but she is a paranoid Schizophrenic and I accept her fear of me in that way.

Is it okay to use these forums for that hunt? Or is there links to help with this kind of search? More than anything I want to know she is okay, and if she is a Jane Doe, get her identified. She was never registered as a missing person.

 

[Laughing]

I'd try to report her as missing. You're right, as an adult LE may not want to deal with it -- but your missing adult has a mental health issue. Likely LE is aware of the Mitrice Richardson case, and continuing legal action by her family to require LE protection of those who are or may be mentally ill.

Call the Prosecutor's or District Attorney's office in your county -- and/or the county of your aunt's last known location . Ask for the Victim Advocate. That person can get you moving in the right direction & knows how to navigate your area's courts. Might be able to get more information from the hospital.

The hospital's Chaplain's office may be willing to follow up on your aunt's hospitalization.

Check court records for your state, CaseNet includes traffic tickets, municipal parking violations, other crimes, and civil cases. You may find a more recent address.

Have you simply Googled her name?

How long ago did your aunt enter the hospital? She may have been transferred to another facility?

Sorry for your struggles with family issues, best wishes in your search, do keep us posted!

 

[Llama_Rights]

I admitted her myself 17 years ago. My son was 6 months old and she was suicidal and I could not handle the stress of a newborn (and a toddler) and a suicidal woman. She was living with me, and I tried to help her see that I loved her. I know she felt like a burden and I tried to dispel that but was bad at it.

I love her a lot but knew she needed support I could not give so we sent her to Austin State Hospital. We had to go through this whole thing transferring power of attorney to a social worker or something. My dad helped with that so not sure and his memory is not great. I called the hospital every 2 weeks for about a year and got the same message. "If she is a patient here we will give her your information but it will be up to her to call."

After a year I called every 6 months and stopped calling after 2 years. I have googled, looked for public records. We can't find anything about a death so we assume she is out there somewhere or dead listed as a Jane Doe. She has been in and out of hospitals since she was 18. She is 54 now.

I have only ever Googled or called the hospital. I will look into the other options. She was really active in chat rooms and forums (before social media was a thing) and I have looked through all of the social media out there. She legally changed her name 4 times and I have tried every variation I can think of. To me, Facebook seems the type of thing she would love but I assume she has an alias so my mom can not find her. She disappeared for 15 years in the past, because her delusions made her think my mom would hunt her down and kill her. That time she was living on a Native American reservation and they had been giving her medical help. I pray that she is there but they have not replied to any of my inquires.

 

[Gardenista]

I admitted her myself 17 years ago. My son was 6 months old and she was suicidal and I could not handle the stress of a newborn (and a toddler) and a suicidal woman. She was living with me, and I tried to help her see that I loved her. I know she felt like a burden and I tried to dispel that but was bad at it.

I love her a lot but knew she needed support I could not give so we sent her to Austin State Hospital. We had to go through this whole thing transferring power of attorney to a social worker or something. My dad helped with that so not sure and his memory is not great. I called the hospital every 2 weeks for about a year and got the same message. "If she is a patient here we will give her your information but it will be up to her to call."

After a year I called every 6 months and stopped calling after 2 years. I have googled, looked for public records. We can't find anything about a death so we assume she is out there somewhere or dead listed as a Jane Doe. She has been in and out of hospitals since she was 18. She is 54 now.

I have only ever Googled or called the hospital. I will look into the other options. She was really active in chat rooms and forums (before social media was a thing) and I have looked through all of the social media out there. She legally changed her name 4 times and I have tried every variation I can think of. To me, Facebook seems the type of thing she would love but I assume she has an alias so my mom can not find her. She disappeared for 15 years in the past, because her delusions made her think my mom would hunt her down and kill her. That time she was living on a Native American reservation and they had been giving her medical help. I pray that she is there but they have not replied to any of my inquires.

This is a long shot, but if you have a photo that you think she may have had too, you could try to do a reverse image search.

 

[Llama_Rights]

Sadly some floods destroyed all photos we had. Not just of her but I have no photo taken before 2002. My mom told me she has a high school photo of her from the 70s but I have never seen this photo.

 

[Laughing]

Llama Rights, I think you should be able to report her as missing and endangered after residing in that facility.

The State of Texas knows more than you've been told.

Someone likely still has power of attorney. OR, if that document expired or the like, there is no harm in you having a copy, right?

The names changes are a problem.

All my best in your search, Laughing

 

[Llama_Rights]

Thank you! I will look into that!